Cream of Potato Soup

Well, all the funeral stuff is over, and we're back home on a Wednesday evening, completely worn out. It's funny, when something like this happens, how time almost stops. Nothing else is going on but this one thing, and when it ends you're left wondering what day it is and what to do next. Tomorrow we'll have to wake up and function like it's a normal Thursday, even though we've been out of the world since Monday morning.

I want to thank everyone who showed care and concern over the past few days. It was nice to get emails and comments of sympathy on my blog. Thanks to those who called to check on me (continually.....Cara), to those who sent flowers, and those who came to the funeral home. I absolutely appreciate it--it meant a lot to all of us. And Mike, my brothers and Stacey totally rule the school, that's all there is to it.

And now, back to real life....

Posted by jenny at 06:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

My grandmother passed away this morning. Even though we knew it was coming, it was still a bit of a surprise. Instead of talking too much about death, I'll write about one of the nicest memories I have of her.

I was her youngest granddaughter. There were only three of us girls anyway (the other 12 were boys), but being the youngest always felt special to me. I went to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel school for first through fifth grade, and before my first day of school, Grandma took me shopping. She took me down to the Red Door to buy two white blouses with Peter Pan collars to go with my school uniform. And then she took me to lunch at Friendly's. I got a grilled cheese and a pickle. And I felt very, very grown-up.

She wasn't a fun, play with you on the floor kind of grandma. She was a more grown-up, have a pop and a talk at the kitchen table kind. Some weekends we'd go to her house and order a pizza--she'd always ask my dad if she could buy him a brew. When I got older, on Sunday nights Mom and I would go down to visit and it would be just the girls, eating gumdrops and watching "Murder She Wrote".

I'm glad I'll always have those nice memories. And I'll never forget her.

Posted by jenny at 01:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I'm feeling better. I talked to Elaine on the phone for an hour and a half Thursday night, and yesterday I got my iced coffee and took a drive. I had the windows down, a big golden moon, and songs to belt out as I drove, and that always does me good. I'm feeling a lot more optimistic.

Mike's getting Evan to say a bunch of new things the last few days--eat, nose, drink. Of course, if he said them to you, you'd have no idea that's what he was saying, but by God it's better than he's done before. He's also picking up new signs at an alarming rate, so I'm happy about that. Things are looking up.

My hair looks good today, and we have a party to go to. How can I not be a happy girl?

Posted by jenny at 11:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This week has been one of the craziest we've had in a while. Evan has had preschool for the first time in a month, there's still speech, we've got a picnic tomorrow and Saturday and I have to get up to Erie sometime before then and blah blah blah. And my iPod is busticated. I sure know how to bitch, don't I? But as you can tell, things are not going smoothly.

I am feeling a little overwhelmed. I scheduled a meeting with Evan's teachers for next Wednesday. We've been having some behaviour (I like it better with the u) issues at home lately, not to mention the stress of unsuccessful potty training. I'm hoping the experts will be able to give me a little insight, because it's starting to feel like head against brick wall around here. I try not to talk about it too much, because I know kids are tough sometimes and I don't want it to seem like Evan is so terrible, but I feel like there must be a better way.

Until I figure out that way, I will go on as I have been. I will vigorously clean my bathroom while listening to old Barenaked Ladies tracks on (gasp) a regular cd player. "Lovers in a Dangerous Time" is a favorite right now. I'll also be wishing I hadn't left my wallet in the car because I could really go for an iced coffee this morning. We all must make sacrifices. I will get through this.

Posted by jenny at 09:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Today we took Evan to Waldameer. We were going to bag it because we figured it was going to rain all day, but then we decided that we didn't mind getting a little wet. So off we went to the park.

It did rain for about half of the afternoon, but we were able to get in a fair amount of ride time before getting totally soaked and calling it quits. Ev went on some of the kiddie rides by himself, and a few of the big rides with us. I was amazed at how much he loved the ones that go fast. He's going to be a roller coaster freak like his mama.

Ev liked the ferris wheel, the Sky Ride, the merry-go-round and the train. He loved the Comet and Ravine Flyer III roller coasters. However, he did not like the Whacky Shack at all. I'm sure I just set myself up for a week's worth of nightmares by taking him on that ride.

We all had a great time, and returned home tired and happy. Mike and I talked a little on the way home about how much fun Evan is now. I love babies and all that, but it's so cool to have a kid we can really do things with. It's great to take him to amusement parks and the driving range and baseball games--all those things we love to do also. We're really having a good summer with him, and I know he's loving it too.

Posted by jenny at 07:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We've spent the last few days trying to keep cool in the 90 degree heat. So far so good, though when I did laundry yesterday I noticed that Evan hasn't worn clothes much in the last few days. Hell, makes my work easier, so I'm not complaining.

Monday we met up with Lisa and Cole at the beach. We spent the better part of the afternoon there, and it was a good time. The boys enjoyed the water and the sand, and we all got our share of sunshine. It seems like we've been so busy this summer that we haven't gotten a chance to see friends as much as we'd like, so it was nice to have that time.

In addition to his fascination with baseball, Evan's become really interested in golf now. We first noticed when he was putting with my brothers on the Fourth of July. He's been playing around the house with a little plastic set of clubs we got him a few years ago, and he's gotten pretty good. He's been playing so much that he's broken the clubs--we'll have to pick up a sturdier set this weekend.

Mike even took Ev to the driving range the other night. He actually did pretty well. The big problem was finding a club that was small enough for him, but he seemed to manage even with one taller than he was. It's fun to watch Evan get so interested in something. We like to encourage him as much as we can. I don't think he's going to be the next Tiger Woods or anything, but he's having fun and that's what counts.

Now we're off to speech, which is a different kind of fun.

Posted by jenny at 10:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well, we're effectively giving up on potty training around here.

We cleared the whole weekend to spend in the house, doing nothing but focusing on Evan and the toilet. We had the stepstools and potty seats ready, made toilet targets, and got M&M's for rewards. We hid the diapers, got Ev naked, and were ready to get down to business.

Unfortunately, Evan had other ideas.

He did a great job staying dry. He was naked and had no accidents for six hours. SIX hours. He drank and drank and would not pee. We sat him on the toilet every fifteen minutes, and he did not go. We tried standing up, Daddy demonstrating, and still he would not go. We even let him stand in the bathtub and he would not go. He didn't go until we put some pants on him.

We tried and tried. We did nothing else. We took everything away from him. We spent hours in the bathroom. And we failed.

Evan really has us in a bad spot. I just don't know where to go from here. And before I get too angry and frustrated about it, we're going to take a break. We'll regroup, talk to Ev's teachers, try again in a few weeks. I'm determined, but so is Evan, and eventually the tide will turn. God, I hope so.

Posted by jenny at 09:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Although Evan's behavior hasn't been the best lately, I shouldn't complain too much. He's generally a pretty good kid, and even when he's not you can't stay mad at him for long. This is simply because he's too cute and far too polite.

You'd think a child who couldn't talk wouldn't be so well mannered, but Evan absolutely is. He uses the signs for "please" and "thank you" on a regular basis, and mostly appropriately. He thanks you when you get him something he's requested, when you change his pants, when you help him into the car. And he won't stop signing it until you acknowledge him with a "you're welcome", either signed or verbal. It's hopelessly cute.

Now he's asking me please for something, so I must go. Thank you.

Posted by jenny at 09:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sorry for leaving the poop entry up all weekend. My apologies. We've been visiting Mike's folks in Ohio since Thursday, so I've been rather out of touch. We enjoyed our little vacation though, aside from the cold that Mike caught from his brother-in-law. We all spent a ton of time outside, ate a lot of fruit and hot dogs, and lit many sparklers.

Evan had a lot of fun at his grandparents, but we noticed something new while he was there. He seemed to be jealous when his cousin got attention and he didn't, and it lead to a little acting out over the weekend. Ev really wasn't terrible, but he is being a little more defiant than usual and yelling more. We've been trying to get that back under control since we've been home, but it's hard to get Ev to understand what we want him to do without yelling ourselves. These next few weeks are going to be interesting, I'm sure.

Posted by jenny at 02:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)